BEFORE THE

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

_____________________________________ Application of )

)

AIRTRAN AIRWAYS, INC. )

) Docket OST

- 20 05

- 21134

under 49 U.S.C. § 40109 for renewal of )

exemption authority between Atlanta , Georgia )

and Cancun, Mexico ; and between Baltimore, )

Maryland and C ancun, Mexico )

_____________________________________ )

APPLICATION OF AIRTRAN AIRWAYS, INC.

F OR RENEWAL OF EXEMPTION AUTHORITY

Communications with respect to this document should be sent to:

Bob Jordan Robert W. Kneisley

President Associate General Counsel

AIRTRAN AIRWAYS, INC. Leslie C. Abbott

9955 AirTran Boulevard Senior Attorney

Orlando, FL 32827 SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.

1901 L Street, N.W., Suite 640

Washington, D.C. 20036

bob.kneisley@wnco.com

(202) 263

- 6284

June 4 , 2012

NOTICE : Any per son may file an answer to this A pplication in this docket and

served on the persons listed above, on or before June 19 , 2012. AIRTRAN WILL

POLL THE U.S. CARRIE RS ON THE ATTACH ED SERVICE LIST REGA RDING THIS

A PPLICATION AND WILL NOTIFY THE DE PARTMENT OF THE RESU LTS AS

SOON AS POSSIBLE.1 BEFORE THE

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

_____________________________________ Application of )

)

AIRTRAN AIRWAYS, INC. )

) Docket OST

- 20 05

- 21134

under 49 U.S.C. § 40109 for renewal of )

exemption authority between Atlanta, Georgia )

and Cancun, Mexico ; and between Baltimore, )

Maryland and Cancun, Mexico )

_____________________________________ )

APPLICATION OF AIRTRAN AIRWAYS, INC.

FOR RENEWAL OF EXEMPTION AUTHORITY

P ursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109 and Subpart C of Part 302 (14 C.F.R.)

, AirTran

Airways, Inc. (“AirTran”) 1 hereby files this Application for Renewal of Exemption with the

Department of Transportation (“DOT” o r “the Department” ) to allow AirTran to continue

to provide carriage of persons, property and mail in scheduled combination service

between: (1) Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport (“ATL”) and Cancun, Mexico

(“CUN”) and (2) Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marsha ll Airport (“BWI”)

and Cancun, Mexico (“CUN”). By Order dated October 17, 2008, the Department

granted AirTran authority to serve both markets. DOT renewed the exemption authority

for a two year period by Notice of Action Taken on August 6

, 2010 in this Docket

. The

current exemption is scheduled to expire on August 6 , 2012. 2 To ensure no interruption

1 AirTran Airways, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines Co.

2 To the extent necessary, AirTran relies upon the automatic extension provisions of 5 U.S.C. § 558(c) to maintain the

subject authority in effect beyond the expiration date, pending DOT action on this Application.2

of scheduled service, AirTran respectfully requests prompt renewal of its exemption

authority for a minimum of two years

.

Renewal of the sub ject exemption is in the public interest for the same reasons

that supported the original issuance of authority for AirTran’s ATL

- CUN and BWI

- CUN

service. AirTran’s service has provided consumers in both of these markets with high

quality, low

- cost travel options and low

- fare competition . AirTran provides this service

with Stage III Boeing 737

- 700 aircraft configured for 137 seats . C ontinuation of this

service is in the public interest.

AirTran continues to be fit, willing and able to conduct the services described in

this A pplication . In fact, the Department recently granted AirTran exemption authority to

provide service in several other U.S.

– Mexico markets including MDW

- CUN , AUS

CUN, DEN

- CUN, SAT

- CUN, SAT

- MEX, SNA

- MEX, and SNA

- SJD

. See Docket s OST

2012

- 0001 (MDW

- CUN), OST

- 2012

- 0007 (AUS/DEN

- CUN) a nd OST

- 2011

- 0205 (SAT

CUN/MEX and SNA

- MEX/SJD)

. AirTran requests that the Department take official

notice, pursuant to Rule 24 of the Department's Rules of Practice, of all data on file with

the Department necessary to establish AirTran 's fitness.

The requested renewal of exemption authority is fully consis tent with the United

States

– M exico Air Transport Agreement ( “ Agreement ” )

, as amended by the two

governments on December 12, 2005. The Agreement a uthorizes air carriers

designated by the U nited S tates to operate “[f]rom a point or points in the United States

to a point or points in Mexico.” Annex I(A)(1)(a). Pursuant to the amended Agreement,

three U.S. carrier designations are authorized on U.S.

– CUN routes

, Annex I(B)(5) , and

AirTran serves both A TL

- CUN and BWI

- CUN as one of three designated U.S. airline s

.3

AirTran requests that the Department renew its authority so that it can continue to

provide this service under the Agreement

.

WHEREFORE, AirTran Airways

, Inc. resp ectfully requests renewal of its

exemption authority under 49 U.S.C. § 40109 for a minimum of two years to provide

scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property, and mail between Atlanta and

Cancun, Me xico and between Baltimore and Cancun , Mexico

.

Respectfully submitted,

______________________ Robert W. Kneisley

June 4 , 20124 C ERTIFICATE OF SERVIC E

I hereby certify that on June 4 , 2012 , a copy of the foregoing was served via e

mail on the following persons:

msinick@ssd.com (Alaska Airlines)

carl.nelson@aa.com (American Airlines)

Robert.wirick@aa.com (American Airlines)

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com (Delta Air Lines)

robert.cohn@hoganlovells.com (Frontier Airlines)

Patrick.rizzi@hoganlovells.com (Frontier Airlines)

jhill@dowlohnes.com (JetBlue Airways)

dkirstein@yk law.com (Spirit Airlines)

John.Fredericksen@suncountry.com (Sun Country Airlines)

dan.weiss@united.com (United Air Lines)

howard_kass@usairways.com (US Airways)

ben.slocum@usairways.com (US Airways)

pmurphy@lopmurphy.com (USA3000)

jegillick@zsrlaw.com (Virgin America)

barbara.russell@virginamerica.com (Virgin America)

susan.kurland@dot.gov

paul.gretch@dot.gov

esta.rosenberg@dot.gov

brian.hedberg@dot.gov

brett.kruger@dot.gov

Louis Miller

Aviation General Manager

City of Atlanta Department of Aviation

Hartsfield

- Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Louis.Miller@atlanta

- airport.com

Paul Wiedefeld

Executive Director

Maryland Aviation A dministration

BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport

pwiedefeld@bwiairport.com

info@airlineinfo.com

__________________________ Leslie C. Abbott